Various news sources are giving a couple of lines over this Green Party report (out of Berlin-City).
From the Berlin-City political scene (the mini-state itself)....has a fairly active Green Party component. This week, they've kinda vowed to take the city to zero-emission status....in ten years.
Yes, no gas and no diesel cars in the heart of the city. Part of this scheme involves putting a city toll into effect, adding some type of additional fee on parking places, push to make some streets car-free, etc.
The odds of this occurring? I will make five observations.
First, private parking (owned by people or companies) won't be affected. Public parking spots....like on streets....would be what is affected.
Second, the idea of dumping all gas and diesel cars over the next decade into Berlin....probably won't occur. You might make a case of three or four 'zones' where you eliminate cars in general (say a three or four square block area).
Third, lets be blunt here....tourism is a huge player in Berlin now (13.5 million tourists per year). Hotels and businesses survive off this, and you really don't want to screw this up.
Fourth, the idea of making some streets car-free? I could see making state road #2 going east and west through Berlin being made into a four-kilometer car-free area, but then you'd double-up traffic on alternate streets, and make a lot of people furious at the public relations gimmick.
Fifth, Berlin is now used for a number of high-profile VIP events (the elite, the Hollywood crowd, and artsy people)....would they all travel by bus and subway? I just kinda doubt it.
Yeah, at the end of this statement, it all sounds nice but unbelievable....except the tax revenue people would love a toll to enter the 'heart' (the zone of Berlin). That Euro of entry-tax would pay for more statues, and landscaping efforts.
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